Kyynärän mittainen tyttö
By: Anna Amnell; kuvitus Matti Amnell
Contributors: Matti Amnell
Publisher: Lasten Keskus
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Helsinki
Number of pages: 159
Work titles: Kyynärän mittainen tyttö
First sentence: Lucia oli lopettanut kasvamisen pian sen jälken, kun oli oppinut kävelemään.
Description: An Ell-Sized Girl [Kyynärän mittainen tyttö]
ISBN 951-627-486-2
B/W Illustration by Matti Amnell
Historical novel for young readers, 8-12 years old.  

Thirteen-year-old Lucia Olavintytär [fictitious character] is 2 ft 8 inches tall ( 81 cm). She lives a sheltered life at a rural manor house in the middle of the Finnish forests. Lucia and her brothers are given a good education by their father, a former monk. Lucia is good singer and lute player, she speaks and writes Latin fluently. Her father knows Lucia's worth in the sixteenth century world and tries to protect her. People like her were sold, kidnapped and donated to the kings and queens at the European courts to be used as companions, entertainers and nurses of the royal children.

On an early spring morning in 1559 Lucia goes to her usual ride accompanied by her servant boy. In a moment Lucia's life is changed. She is kidnapped and taken by boat first to Gotland and then to the Fens, the ancient swamplands of England, to be trained and sold to be a dwarf and spy at the court of the young Queen Elizabeth. What will happen to Lucia?
Table of contents: title: The 16th century, growth hormone deficiency, family, friendship, the Baltic Sea, Gotland, the Fens, Ely, London. Elizabeth I, Prince John of Finland in London.